Chirori - Omakase & Sushi — Restaurant in Atlanta

Now, let me just say that in the beginning we were super patient with wait times and such because things happen, especially in the chaos of Valentine's Day, and we really respect service workers. However, sadly, our experience was truly the worst dining experience we have ever had. Last night my boyfriend and I came in for omakase. To start, the servers forgot to seat us at our table, we know this because we were standing right next to it and the person who sat us apologized. Then we waited for a solid 20 minutes before anyone came even to bring us water - again, it happens, we’re patient people. The drinks finally came out, but our first course took quite some time. This was a pattern - now, of course, we know what we’re signing up for with omakase. It takes a little bit longer because it’s an experience, however, the wait between each course was far too long - this is further solidified by the fact that each course that was brought out was accompanied by an apology from the server. All of this we were willing to chalk up to a busy night and people doing their best, despite this being a $300 meal. We waited thirty minutes between courses then were hastily served dessert despite missing an entire course. At this point we were a little confused, albeit slightly annoyed - it was getting late and we're tired - but we were STILL ready to meet this mistake with understanding. This is where things take a turning point. The server then seems confused that we didn’t get our soup; in conversation with someone else, they are informed that they are out of soup. They then bring us the check and it's full price. We were expecting at a minimum for that course to be taken off. Now we ask to speak to their manager - this is a point of pride for me. I have never been this person and I hated every second of it. So here we are, an hour and a half into our meal, we've had pretty lame service all night, an entire course was missed and no one even bothered to apologize or inform us about it until we brought it up, and we’re looking at a steep bill. We explain what happened to the manager and mention that it just isn’t fair to charge us for 6 courses, when we only received 5. She then offers us more alcohol - at this point it’s 10:30 on a Wednesday night so we politely decline. We ask what else she can do and she pressures us to accept drinks again. I again, said no. She then offers to take the drinks we already purchased off our ticket - these totaled $12. I’m sorry, but $12 off a $300 fixed menu experience where you were missing an entire course just doesn’t seem fair to me. We communicate this and she calls her boss and returns to the table and offers us 20% off or the price of the soup. I asked her how much the soup cost and never mind the fact that it only cost $4 and they were looping that in a full course as part of a 6 course meal. Of course, we accept the 20% off, but this is after having this manager nickel and dime us over their own mistake. She wasn’t understanding and she pressured us to keep drinking. For us, this was not about missing soup. These things happen. It was the fact that she made our concerns seem like they were outlandish. It was obvious that she couldn’t have cared less about making it right. For a $300 meal with this type of service - obviously, we will...

Chirori is a sister restaurant to Wagaya. It's located right next door to it on 14th Street in Atlanta, GA.

They are not officially opened as of yet and are only taking private reservations. So my review is strictly based on what was available at the time of visit. That being said let's get into the review.

Chirori is a Robata style Japanese restaurant. Think Japanese tapas if that helps you understand better. They offer a somewhat unique menu as most items they featured can be paired with a recommended sake drink. Which was, according to the owners, carefully researched with sake sommeliers to find the perfect pairing. They have a deep sake menu here. It's kind of like a wine tasting when you get your first cup, they want to smell and take in the full texture of the sake before drinking it fully. It's quite an experience.

Now you don't have to drink sake if you don't want to. It's totally optional. All the dishes can be shared but a lot of them won't fill you up immediately. You will probably end up ordering a few more items than expected to get your stomach stuffed eating here if you come with a party of 2 or more.

The menu, which I believe may not be completely finalized yet, isn't too big. You get tons of options from Robata style dishes to more traditional sushi based dishes. There are few unique dishes as well. If you are unsure what to order, just ask for a recommendation. They do a great job of explaining the menu when you are seated in the beginning.

I will tell you this. They use quality ingredients here. You can taste it with all the flavors. You can tell they are truly putting in the effort and prep time for each dish. On top of all that, the presentation is spectacular. Each dish appears to be crafted to be aesthetically pleasing to the eyes.

Overall great visit. I'm curious to see if the level of effort and presentation continues once they officially open since with any private reservation or soft opening they tend to put in a bit more of show to make sure the word of mouth starts off positive. They certainly won me over though with this initial visit.

List of Dishes I Ordered: -Shiso Caprese Salad (3/5 ) -Seasonal Sashimi Platter (5/5 - fish was very fresh) -Ribeye Steak Robata (5/5 - steak had a lot of flavor) -Chrysanthemum Mist Jungin Sake (4/5 - very smooth taste) -Macha Zuke (4/5 - matcha salt adds to the flavor of the rice) -Truffle Crab Cha Wanmushi (4/5 - great...

I made a reservation on Resy for 3. While 2 of us got there on time, we were refused to sit at the sushi bar for our omakase experience. 1. I understand all party have to arrive to start, but instead of waiting I asked if we can go ahead and start. The manager there refused,and for the next 15 min she kept come back and ask when will the 3rd person arrive. The reservation was for 6:30pm, my friend arrived around 6:48pm. The manager refused to sit us down at the bar. Telling me it’s the rule of the restaurant that they can’t serve until all party arrive. 2. She asked the chef to come out to talk to me. The next 10 min( while the whole omakase have not even started yet) both of them decided that they can’t sit us down by the bar. I was told that since my reservation was for 6:30, it will affect the later 7pm reservation. I’d asked: so we only have 30min to enjoy our meal? At that point I didn’t want to argue anymore. So we decided to sit at the table. It’s Friday night, it would be hard to find another reservation anywhere else. I would definitely leave without a doubt if I can find another replacement. For the next 1hour and 20mins the bar was nearly empty, until 8pm. So my question is: why was it so hard for the manager to make arrangement for us to sit? She ruined my night and ruin my experience. This is not my first time there, but will definitely be the last. The manager was a Chinese lady, and could understand every word I was saying when I talked to my friend. I don’t understand how this customer service is worth for me to spend $600. Had it not been the other 2 servers that was polite and respectful, I would not be willing to pay any gratuity. I respect their hard work, but as a customer, I did not receive any customer service from this ”Manager”. I just want to tell the management team, hiring her will be the owner’s biggest MISTAKE. I might be one of the many customers that will visit the restaurant, but I will never go back. 1. She did not show any signs of willing to assist. 2. If she would of told me ahead that we will not be served at the bar, I will accept. Instead after the 3rd person arrived, omakase have not even started, I sit at the table watching the bar being empty ( max 4ppl) until 8pm. Now, someone tell me please, am I being difficult? This is my first bad review for any restaurant, and I really think I have better places to spend my...